Blank Sceen Kind Of

I started this blog with a definite topic in mind but it is not working out to transform it into words. It was mostly going to be about not getting frustrated when you receive corrections in class as it is only designed to make you be a better Martial Artist. Also, the person giving you correction is not doing to be mean or trying to make you feel bad, but generally wants to help you.

I sometimes have to remind myself of this and to also then be honest with myself. This is more in relation to being on the A demo team or the B team. I know I will be on the B team because I haver not put in the practice required for my forms yet this year. But I am working on them and I feel like I am improving. I think I am going to end this here as I think I am starting to ramble.

Abandoned (Mines)

I have made it back to civilization after 2 weeks of remote work. I was at 2 abandoned mines in the Yukon with very limited services and people. It is a little strange being in a camp that used to house 400 people and only have 50 there. The other camp was a 300 man camp with only 13 of us there. You could walk around for an hour and see nobody.

It is nice to be back (only for 1 day so far as I got back yesterday afternoon). Today was spent doing a project in the city so I haven’t actually had a day off yet. I am hoping tomorrow will be a little more relaxed.

My Kung Fu needs some attention as I have my forms to work on and I need to continue prepping for the seminar. I was able to get in some practice today and plan on spending quite a bit of time training this next 2 weeks.

There is a chance I may have another 3 to 4 day project coming up in the next few weeks but hopefully not.

Disconnected to Sanda

I just came back from a remote abandoned mine site in the Yukon that had almost zero service. I had enough for texts and that was about it. Sometimes it is nice to just disconnect and leave the world behind even if it is only for a short time.

I finally have the full sequence for the Butterfly Swords form. It needs a lot of work yet as I am still not great with some of the movements but I can at least work through it now. It is tough to practice either form when I am away as I can’t really bring the weapons with me and there is no space or time to play with them. So, I just work through them in my head and try to do a small sequence here and there.

I am excited about my upcoming seminar as it has been a long time since my last one (before Covid). I am also hoping lots of people sign up as that would be disappointing if no one came. I am really going to focus on things to make people better and more comfortable with sparring but also show them where they can take their sparring. I am also going to ensure it is setup for all skill levels and all experience levels as well as modifying for people with limitations.

Well I am off to my next project and unsure what service will be like there but I assume it will be pretty much non existent as well/

Balance

It never seems like there is enough time to do all the things I need to do. I know I am not the only one to feel this way but sometimes the stress of knowing what needs to get done with the limited time I have to do them feels overwhelming.

I was supposed to be done all my projects for the year with the exception of maybe a week in Whitehorse sometime before December. That changed when a new project popped up and I was asked if I could go. I didn’t need to say yes, but being a contractor, it would not be in my best interest. So of course, I said I could go. What that means for me, is I have a week home and then I will be gone for another 12 days again.

The stress comes in from the list of things I need to work on at home that keep getting pushed off. I also like to get to the Kwoon as much as possible which cuts into my time at home. What I realize from this is even after all these years of travelling for work, I still struggle to maintain a balance in my life. Sometimes I have to make sacrifices in my life and it is never an easy decision on what to sacrifice.

Morning Coffee

I was able to make it to our Sunday morning coffee chat today and I was glad I did. I have been feeling very disconnected this last little bit due to being away so much and not having the ability to attend classes through Zoom. We just talked about life and how things were going for each of us (some more than others today – sorry for that).

What I also find interesting about these chats, is I don’t think we offer talk about Kung Fu or our training. It is just a casual chat about anything happening in our lives or our past lives. I have learned a lot about everyone there and it helps reestablish the connection to the Kwoon and my own training. So thank you all for attending ands to those who have attended in the past.

Realization About Life

I don’t really know how to start this but here goes. My planned flight on Sunday had a medical incident on board soon after takeoff. I knew it was not good as they came to the back of the plane to get an AED and we were told we were returning to Edmonton as there was a medical emergency. They also asked for any paramedics or firefighters to come forward which is a serious situation. Once we land, we are told to remain seated and allow paramedics to do their job. After a few minutes, they leave with the person on the stretcher and 5 minutes later we are asked to deplane. Once off the plane, there is a Police Officer there and I just know it was not a medical emergency anymore.

We waited for about an hour before they told us our flight was cancelled and we would need to rebook. This is where it hit me. There were people cursing and getting really upset by this and I do understand to a point but someone had jus died on that plane. How do you think the family of that person feels. So it is an inconvenience to you, but you get to carry on with your life and you just need to rebook a flight.

In all the flights, I have taken, this was the most serious thing that has ever happened. And it made me realize that all the things I am stressing about lately are really minor when you think about it. So I haven’t practiced my forms enough, I haven’t finished that work project yet, my plans have to change now. At the end of the day, I still get to work on these things and still get to see the people close to me in my life. Just remember that life is short and you never know when it will be your time to go.

Frustration

I was at the Second Degree Brown Belt Class on Saturday and something that I observed made me want to write about it. I think that frustration is what has held me back or limited my growth at times. When you are not sure what someone is asking of you or you don’t know how to fix what they are asking you to fix, it can be extremely frustrating. I am not sure, but I believe there was some frustration in the students.

It took me a long time to understand things that were asked of me years ago and at the time I got so angry about it. I now realize that you can’t fix it in a single class, but it may take years to fix it. I guess the point of this is to remind myself that you need to just understand there is something you need to work on and it is something that will take time. You will not fix it immediately but you need to not get frustrated by it. I think I am better at this now but I still think frustration creeps into my training.